


Routine

by Steph_Rob94



Series: Milk [2]
Category: Durarara!!
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-08
Updated: 2013-12-08
Packaged: 2018-01-03 23:52:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1074524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steph_Rob94/pseuds/Steph_Rob94
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anri Sonohara and Shizuo Heiwajima have fallen into a routine of meeting before closing every night, but someone had once told her that breaking routine every once and a while was healthy. As it so happened, this routine of meeting Shizuo at night was a hard one to break.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Routine

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: This anime/manga does not belong to me. It belongs to Ryohgo Narita.

Anri Sonohara smiled happily as the bell of the door jingled to announce his presence.

               “Yo,” Shizuo Heiwajima greeted her. Ever since that night three weeks ago, meeting before closing had become somewhat of a routine for them. It wouldn’t have if it hadn’t been for her. She blushed slightly as she recalled her rather forward question.

_Anri had blushed as Shizuo Heiwajima entered her deli. He avoided looking at her as she checked out his customary bottle of milk._

_“Thank you,” he had muttered as he left, “for last night.” Anri blushed even darker. Her tongue had become heavy in her mouth. She just nodded and smiled slightly. As he turned to leave, her tongue unglued itself from the top of her mouth and her filter shattered._

_“Will you come back later tonight?” She asked. Her face turned a brilliant shade of red. Shizuo froze and turned to face her. Once more, her hands tangled in the hem of her apron. “It’s just…you make me feel safer?” It perplexed even her, but it was true. With Shizuo around, she hadn’t worried about thugs coming in on her around closing. Shizuo’s mouth fell open softly. A small blush spread over his cheeks. He nodded._

“Good evening, Shizuo,” Anri mumbled. She looked away from him as she fought to get her blush under control. The bartender tilted his head. Over the past few weeks, he had learned a lot about Anri Sonohara. The painful shyness she hated was cute to him. When she finally looked back to him, her blush had gone down to a small stain on the top of her cheeks. He smiled and resisted the urge to tease her.

               “Busy today?” He asked. Anri nodded as she pulled herself up onto the counter top. The sandwich bar was completely empty. The coffee machine was more than likely in dire need of a refill. Business had been good. The influx of people meant Anri was on her feet more often than usual. She could feel the soles of her feet throbbing. The thought of the business made her pause and look to him.

               “I won’t be here tomorrow, Shizuo,” Anri told him. He looked over at her. His eyes instantly scanned her from signs of injury or illness. She smiled softly and shook her head. “I’m fine. It’s just…” She sighed, “everyone has bad days.”

               “And tomorrow is going to be a bad day for you?” Shizuo asked. Anri smiled bitterly and nodded.

               “Maybe someday I’ll tell you,” she told him. Her deep brown eyes pleaded with him that he understand. He nodded. After a few minutes of silence, he nudged her slightly.

               “You realize you’ll be breaking routine right?” Shizuo told her. A teasing grin was on his face.

               “I’ve heard that it’s actually quite healthy to do every now and then,” Anri returned teasingly. Most wouldn’t catch it, but Shizuo did. Despite her polite and friendly personality, Anri hid her emotions behind a mask. It was as if she were afraid of saying the wrong thing. At first, he had thought that she was just like that around him, that she was afraid of him. After watching her with other customers, he realized that she was like that with everyone.

Anri Sonohara was an enigma. Shizuo was not overly fond of puzzles, but this woman was one that he wasn’t willing to not find out. Movement brought him out of his thoughts. Anri had jumped down from the counter top and grabbed her purse from underneath the counter. He glanced at his watch and understood. It was closing time.

He waited outside patiently as she locked up. It had become part of their routine for him to walk her home. At first, he had done it to keep her safe. Now, it was both to keep her safe and to get to know her. Anri smiled softly at him before they began the familiar path to her apartment.

“Where did you go to school?” Shizuo asked. “You mentioned once that you had lived in Ikebukuro for all your life…” He elaborated at her confused look.

“I actually went to school with Tom,” Anri answered. Shizuo’s eyebrows flew up at the admission. He had never seen them be friendly with one another until after _that_ night. “We typically stayed within our own groups. Well, he stayed within his group and I stayed to myself.” Anri corrected. Shizuo nodded. He had no doubt that Tom was always polite with her. It wasn’t in Tom to be mean to a woman. The conversation moved to Shizuo’s high school years steadily as they walked.

“It wasn’t pretty at Raijin,” Shizuo ended his story. Anri hummed just as she reached her apartment step.

“I heard. The students were always talking about those rowdy Raijin students,” she teased. Shizuo said nothing. He only nudged her shoulder with his arm. Anri avoided telling him that she also knew because Tom worried about Shizuo a lot back then. She was certain that he still did. She turned toward her door and slid the key into the lock.

“Hey,” Shizuo spoke from behind her suddenly. Anri turned her head. A small blush adorned his cheeks. “Do you want company tomorrow?” He asked. Anri blinked. Did she want him to see her that way? She wouldn’t even let her best friends see her on what they had dubbed “the day.” She bit into her lip. Maybe it was time to break her routine and let someone in?

Before she could stop herself, she found herself whispering, “I would like that.”

“See you tomorrow then,” he said as he turned to walk away. It was if he sensed that she wanted to take those words back. Anri sighed and pushed open the door to her apartment. She threw her purse on her counter and leaned back against the door. It closed with a hard click.

“Why did I do that?” She whispered to the air.      


End file.
